Brain-Computer Interface Lets Users With Quadriplegia Control Tablets With Their Minds

Most of us can’t imagine a day going by without interacting with a smartphone or tablet. For those with quadriplegia, though, this is an accepted reality.

But new research from BrainGate — a collaboration among scientists, engineers and physicians from Brown University’s Carney Institute for Brain Science, the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center (PVAMC), Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Stanford University — indicates that this reality might be about to change.

In a study published Nov. 21 in PLOS ONE, BrainGate revealed that a brain-computer interface (BCI) can enable people with paralysis to operate these devices merely by thinking about making clicks and moving a cursor.

In the trial, three participants with quadriplegia (also referred to as “tetraplegia”) used the investigational BrainGate BCI, which records neural activity via a sensor placed on the motor cortex, to conduct activities such as surfing the web, emailing, messaging, and streaming audio/video. Notably, one participant played a snippet of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” on a digital piano.

A participant in the BrainGate clinical trial directly controls a tablet computer through a brain-computer interface. The participant, a musician, played a snippet of ‘Ode to Joy’ on a digital piano interface. The research, published in PLOS ONE, is a step toward restoring the ability of people with paralysis to use everyday technologies.BrainGate Collaboration

Senior author of the paper and Stanford University neurosurgeon Dr. Jaimie Henderson explained that this research marks a culmination of years of BrainGate’s work in bringing agency to those in need:

For years, the BrainGate collaboration has been working to develop the neuroscience and neuroengineering know-how to enable people who have lost motor abilities to control external devices just by thinking about the movement of their own arm or hand. In this study, we’ve harnessed that know-how to restore people’s ability to control the exact same everyday technologies they were using before the onset of their illnesses.

The setup for the investigational BrainGate BCI included a “baby aspirin-sized” implant to detect signals in the motor cortex, which were then decoded and routed to a Bluetooth interface that functioned as a wireless mouse. Similar efforts have been used to allow users to operate robotic arms.

While we can see the clear functional benefits of this research, lead author and Stanford bioenginner Dr. Paul Nuyujukian also explained that an unexpected thrill of the study came from seeing the participants just play around and have fun — such as the aforementioned playing of “Ode to Joy.”

“The most gratifying and fun part of the study was when they just did what they wanted to do — using the apps that they liked for shopping, watching videos or just chatting with friends,” Nuyujukian said. “One of the participants told us at the beginning of the trial that one of the things she really wanted to do was play music again. So to see her play on a digital keyboard was fantastic.”

Participants were able to produce up to 22 point-and-clicks per minute across a variety of apps. In text-specific applications such as email and text, they achieved up to 30 effective characters per minute. Even more interestingly, one participant even reported that the interface was more intuitive than past methods:

It felt more natural than the times I remember using a mouse.

The implications of this research cannot be understated: as virtual and augmented reality technologies (VR/AR) and Internet-of-Things (IoT) become more ubiquitous in the mainstream, the avenues for interaction grow by an exponent for those who have traditionally been more dependent on the aid of others.

For more emerging technology and media coverage, including BCI, blockchain, XR, AI, and more, follow Jesse Damiani onForbes and onTwitter.